Completed Project: Bridge Challenge Fall 2008

A few sample pictures!

Bridge Challenge Fall 2008: Works in Progress

Dave visited LA recently and came to my classroom one day. The kids were making bridges for the bridge challenge, and Dave helped me take some pics. They have turned out pretty well. We'll make sure to post the finished product when they are all done!

The 6A Zoom Machines Fall 2008: Finished Products

Oh, it's magic!

The "after"....

Magic Gardens

This is totally funny....this is the "before". Will post the "after" tomorrow....

Zoom Machines

"Create a zoom machine that will travel the longest distance in the shortest amount of time...."

Junk Box Materials:

• CD's
• Dowel rods
• Straws
• Plastic Bottles
• Index Cards
• Tape
• Pipe Cleaners
• Rubber Bands
• Popscicle Sticks
  

My Lil' Pumpkin....

Sam brought me a pumpkin, and we decorated it!

Density Demo: Coke VS. Diet Coke

Our density demo today....we tested coke vs. diet coke (or regular vs. diet soda) and found that the regular sodas sank, whereas the diets all floated. When we measured out the amount of sugar in an average regular soda (anywhere from 39-55 grams of sugar) vs. the equivalency in non-calorie sweetener (we used Splenda) the kids were totally grossed out! Our conclusion was that the regular sodas were more dense (we talked about an elevator packed with 20 people, vs. an elevator which held only 2 people), therefore sank to the bottom. Pretty fun!

Mystery Canisters....

Experiment testing density, volume, and mass....

Super Structures Groups Compete!

Mystery Canisters and the Sunday Search

Remember the days of 35 MM film? And those film canisters that the film came in?

Well, there are many fun labs that one can do with these canisters. (read: labs that could be done with other materials too, but the canisters are FREE, and teachers LOVE free)

Anyway, I am doing a mystery canisters lab soon with my 6th grade crew, during which they have to design canisters that will sink, float, and "suspend" in water. I need a total of 35 canisters. Yesterday, I must have gone to 6 different Targets, Walgreens, and CVS pharmacies. They were very nice about allowing me to dig through their recycling, but all I came up with so far were 20 canisters!

Luckily, I started early. In a plea to get some from parents, I posted it on my homework website. Who knew these would be so hard to come by. I guess it makes sense given that so many now shoot digital....

Oy!

More Fair

They left me with your shadow,
saying things like, "Life is not fair..."
and I believed them for a long time....
But today, I remembered the sound of your laugh,
and the heat of your hand in mine

and I knew that life is more fair than we can ever imagine
if we are there to live it.

It has been nearly 22 years since she died, and I still have days when I yearn to talk to her. The memory is a phenomenally complex thing. One scent, or sound, or experience, can stimulate a number of things from one's past. Today it was smelling her perfume as I passed the perfume counter at Macy's. French with white floral undertones. After she died I used to go into her jewelry box to smell her jewelry. By the next year, her scent had faded, but never left my memory. I miss her.

Gummi Bear Lab Day 2

Ewww! The kids noticed a huge increase in length, width, thickness, mass, and volume of their gummi bears. The one thing that decreased was the density of the bears. Discuss.

Gummi Bear Lab Day 1

Gummi Bear Lab: Day 1

Today we measured our bear's length, width, thickness, mass, density, and volume. My favorite was the mass, because we got to use the old-school triple beam balances. Will return for an update once we view our results on Friday. Stay tuned...